Post Archive by Month

Feast your eyes upon the “Spirit Guides Native American Style Tomahawk Replica” from a company called “Collectibles Today.” In case its use was unclear, it’s a wall hanging. duh. Besides the obvious stereotypes–tomahawk, wolves, feathers, beading, connection to the mystical, etc, you MUST read the description: Be guided by the wolf’s commanding spirit and remarkable courage with this awe-inspiring sculptural …

Sunday was “Class Day” at an Ivy League university, and I sat with 5 of my family members, watching my little sister graduate. Class Day tradition at this school dictates students wear “funny hats” along with their graduation robes (the traditional mortar boards are saved for commencement the next day). As I waited for my sister to enter through the …

Our favorite warbonnet-wearing-hot-mess of a musician sported another headdress at The Bamboozle (a big music festival). The photographer calls her get up a “psuedo-patriotic costume of a feather headdress, aviator sunglasses, and the American flag”. Right. Plenty more pictures at the photog’s site: http://ishootshows.com/2010/05/21/photos-kesha-the-bamboozle/ A couple of tipsters had sent over Ke$ha’s new video for “Your Love is My Drug”, a …

It took me a minute to even get the joke in this cartoon. Let’s break it down: We all know all Indians do rain dances, right? (riiiight) And high roller strip club patrons “make it rain” by throwing money up in the air so it falls down like rain on the stripper. Therefore, it’s funny, get it? When they dance, it’s …

Bay to Breakers is an annual San Francisco Bay Area tradition, now in its 99th year. Technically it’s a 12k race, starting downtown (the bay) and ending at the beach (the breakers). I don’t know the exact history, or how it has (d)evolved through the years, but I can tell you it is now one part serious road race, and …

I was browsing twitter trending topics this afternoon, and saw that #powwow was a trending topic–way far down, but still! So I investigated, only to find out that none of the posts had anything to do with any powwow I had ever attended. Apparently this weekend was the 39th annual “Orlando International Pow Wow,” a travel trade show. read the …

AK note: Repost from the always fabulous Beyond Buckskin‘s Jessica Metcalfe. If you haven’t seen her blog, I highly recommend it. She blogs about Native fashion and Indigenous designers, and always has insightful and interesting commentary. This is one of her “Designer Profiles”. Teri GreevesKiowa Teri Greeves grew up on the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming and began beading when she …

Another great find from regretsy.com (a blog that combs etsy.com for weird and hilarious postings). This masterpiece was included in their “Top 10 Horrible Necklaces,” and awesomely titled “Dances with Plastic.” Beyond the ridiculousness of the necklace itself, we have the description: “I love the native american culture”? right. He’s “hunting…perhaps for dinner. or lunch.”? awesome. But let’s also point out: …

(image source) Cause we all know that changing the “o” to an “i” in Cherokee makes it all ok and not racist, right? Feast your eyes on Cherikee Red, a cherry flavored soda available (yes, in 2010) in the great states of Ohio and Pennsylvania. Besides the appropriation of the Cherokee name and the fantastically insensitive connection to the word …

Let’s set the scene: Friday afternoon, Stanford powwow–one of the largest powwow’s on the West Coast. Three Native powwow committee members and a friend are checking in on the vendor booths, making sure things are ready to go, and they come across the group pictured above. 6 non-Native girls, decked out in warpaint, feathers, fringe, and moccassins–playing Indian at its …